The Nobel Prize for Literature Abdulrazak Gurnah on Tuesday denounced the "
inhuman
" nature of the response of the British and French governments to migrants crossing the Channel to reach the United Kingdom at the risk of their lives.
"
There is something quite inhumane, I think, in the response of these two governments,
" the 72-year-old writer, awarded for his stories on immigration and colonization, told a press conference. .
Read alsoNobel Literature Abdulrazak Gurnah condemns a "lack of compassion" towards migrants
The day after the official presentation of his medal by the Swedish ambassador in London, he criticized in particular the British response, which he admitted to knowing more than the French response.
“
It's quite strange to see the language, the narrative that is being constructed against or about these attempted crossings,
” he added.
This position taken by the writer, born in Zanzibar (Tanzania) and a refugee in England at the end of the 1960s, comes at a time when the British parliament is in the process of adopting a controversial reform of the right to asylum, and after the death at the end of November of 27 people, drowned while trying to reach the English coast aboard an inflatable boat.
This shipwreck represents the worst migratory drama ever known in the Strait.
Read also Abdulrazak Gurnah receives his prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature in London due to the pandemic
Among the measures envisaged by the British Minister of the Interior Priti Patel is the highly controversial plan to push the boats back to French waters, which several associations are already ready to take to court.
Abdulrazak Gurnah also attacked "
great inequalities
" in the response to the coronavirus pandemic between rich and poor countries.
“
It is tragic for those who cannot be helped, who die from lack of medicine,
” he said.
As for the lack of congratulations on the part of the British government for its Nobel Prize, the writer, who acquired British nationality, explains it by the fact that "a
lot of the response to this prize has been to celebrate the award. of an African writer
”.
"
So it is possible that that could be the explanation, that they do not see this writer as someone whom they must congratulate
", he estimated.
